Onoway Fish & Game BBQ Weekend Day 1

A beautiful day, more campers pulled in today and the members (well at least some) are working hard to get ready for the big BBQ tomorrow, they hung up some banners and decorated the shelter with some triangle coloured little banners, looks quite festive. The BBQ is the big year end gathering and they are expecting a large group to attend (100+ people) so it will be a busy weekend. They also set up tables for the Silent Auction of donated items from members and businesses in the area; the Silent Auction is fun and a good fund raiser for the Association. The Raffle tickets are drawn at the BBQ so all the prizes are arranged in the shelter which allows for viewing (drooling) over the prize you hope to win. This year 1st prize is a quad with tub trailer, 2nd prize $1000.00, 3rd prize, Expedition Camp stove ($600.00 value), 4th prize coolers ($400.00) value and 5th prize 2 Camping chairs (value $80.00) and the tickets are just $10.00 each so very good value. Woody sold some tickets as well as we purchased some tickets, wouldn’t mind winning one of the prizes, last year we won a GPS which we have made good use of in our travels. All in all it is major work to set up everything and of course Woody helped out wherever he could. It will be a busy but fun weekend.

The campers or at least some of them. The campsites create a semicircle around the center area.

One banner and the streamer!

The kitchen and shelter area.

Gotta get Organized!

Nothing spectacular to report, pretty ordinary day at Imrie Park a few people pulled in today for the big weekend (Onoway Fish and Game Barbecue here this weekend) I had an appointment in Spruce Grove after which I shopped for some flowers for the park, think it is safe to put flowers out now, no more snow or freezing temps usually at this time. A couple of folks stopped by checking out the park and had some questions; Woody graded the roads using the bucket on the tractor and mowed some grass. It will be a busy weekend but should be fun. The dogs are doing great, learning more each day regarding greeting folks that drop in, not barking when the doorbell rings, just run excitedly to us but still are learning how to greet people calmly! Some people are not happy to have our little dogs jump on them and our dogs need to learn to respect that at least until invited. The weather was good, better than predicted actually, no rain, still a little cool for this time of year at 15C (59F) for a high but suppose to be real nice for the weekend, YEAH! I decided I really need to organize my time more efficiently and made a huge To Do List for myself in hopes that I can organize tasks accomplish all the tasks and have lots of time for the things I just want to do! It really amazes me when I think what I accomplished while working full time and that is what got me to thinking that I am not organizing my day well and prompted me to create the To Do List. Wish me luck eh! Hope you have a great day tomorrow and remember never drive faster than your Guardian Angel can fly.

Visit with Tracy and Family

We finally got together with daughter Tracy and family today, they have been very busy with a new puppy, ordinary everyday life, Keith hunting and waiting for a nice day when we could barbecue and be outdoors. We had an awesome visit, catching up on news, sharing pictures and generally just yakking about stuff that makes up our lives and theirs. The afternoon flew by as it usually does when we visit and we made a date to visit them on Wednesday to meet their new puppy (a Chocolate Lab) and continue the visit. Tracy and I have talked on the phone for more than a few hours on the phone since our return but it sure was great to chat with Tracy, Keith and girls in person. Cannot believe how the girls have grown!

Keith and Lindsey, Lindsey is 14 and becoming a wonderful young lady!

We barbecued some burgers, hot dogs, side of brown beans and fresh veggies!

Brooklyn who is always smiling and a delight to have around!

We always bring small gifts home for the family and it really warmed our hearts to see the enthusiasm shown for each item. I had also knit some items and was not sure how they would be received but to my delight the kids loved them and each picked what they wanted. We try and find items made in Arizona and prefer items made in the area where we stay, something unique as opposed to the usual tourist stuff made wherever! We brought them some small boxes handmade of Pine Needles, when the lid is open there is a definite scent of Pine.

I made each granddaughter a Fun Fur Scarf and Lindsey noticed that it had a "hole" in it, I am showing her how to tuck one end through the hole!  The hole has a purpose and it is not a mistake!

Lindsey choose the blue and black one, Brooklyn the pink and blue, which was perfect as I had chosen those colours for them. I am wearing a red one which will go to Dani or Jen when we see them in July.

Kieth enjoying and Tracy ready to capture the moment!

We had a wonderful visit and look so forward to seeing you all on Wednesday!

Onoway Heritage Days

This weekend is Onoway Heritage Days, we attended the Pancake Breakfast (sponsored by Onoway Fish and Game), wandered around viewing the different booths set up on Main Street, checked out the new Bakery, Woody found a good deal on blades he can use for this leather work in the Mini Mart Store. The owner of the store created a huge western/agriculture scene using pull tabs from aluminum cans named “Awesome Millions” he used over 2.5 million pull tabs which many were donated by people from the Onoway area. I wish we had thought to take our camera, you cannot imagine it and I sure cannot create a picture for you with words. The whole scene which has a horse and rider, a tractor, front parts of buildings, trees, and I cannot remember what else and is housed in a 40 foot fifth wheel trailer which he has taken to California to show and he has been offered over a Million Dollars for it, but would not sell it. I have never seen anything like it and he did a great job, if you ever have an opportunity to view his work I would recommend it, very unique and impressive, the items are life size. I did not ask how long it took him to finish such a huge project, but he did say he is going to redo the horse and rider, he is not satisfied, said the horse is not proportioned correctly, looked okay to me though, but then an artist is never satisfied with his own work! Woody had seen it before in his store where it was set up originally and mentioned it to me but I never went and looked at, sure happy I had the opportunity today. We hung around to watch the parade which was typical of a small town parade but the coolest thing was the town organized Sky Divers to land on the street just before the parade started, there was about nine divers and all landed safely, it was so awesome to watch them float down and land right in front of us, we have never seen Sky Divers land so close up previously, we used to watch them float down from our yard at the acreage regularly as there is a Sky Diving Club at a small airport just a few km from here.
We returned to the park, the campers were busy playing horseshoes and other games they had set up, we had a quick lunch then Woody went to cut grass at the gun range which is just down the road, Woody volunteers his time to keep the grass mowed, plus does any small repairs required and is a Range Officer for the Range. The weather was nice today, high around 20C (68F) with a couple of light showers in the evening. The Fire Ban is still in effect even with previous snow and rain we have had no campfires are allowed in the park so the rain is welcomed. Life rolls along and we enjoyed our day!

2009 White Tail Antlers

Woody finally has the antlers from the deer he harvested in 2009. Last fall he shot a nice white tail deer which he searched for along with Ron, they tracked the deer to a neighbouring property but Woody was not allowed on the property to retrieve the deer, before we left last fall for AZ another hunter had reported that he had seen the deer in the slew, and then this summer someone had dropped off the antlers on Ron’s front porch. Woody has since found out that he could have called a Fish and Wildlife officer to escort him onto the property to retrieve the deer, in this area a landowner must allow a hunter to retrieve an animal that was shot on another property that he has permission to hunt. Live and learn eh! Ron called Woody immediately after finding the antlers on his door step for Woody to come over and confirm that it was his antlers, Woody had pictures of the buck so no question they were his! The antlers scored out at 160 which is nice size for a White tail shot with a bow! Needless say Woody is a happy camper that the antlers finally found their way home. Thanks Ron!

Time rolls ON!

A little cooler today but still nice for this time of year in Alberta, almost 19C (65F), we are just happy to not have snow! The first camper’s are arriving today and things are ready, Woody found trees down on the trails but has not had time to cut them up, many people frequent the trails in this park on a daily basis but most are okay with stepping over trees, but will take the time to report any fallen trees they come across which we are appreciate as whenever there is a wind you can bet there are trees that have fallen. The rule is if it crosses a trail buck it up and throw aside or gather it up for firewood, if it falls in the bush leave it there for nature to process naturally back to soil. Josie dropped in today with the summer schedule and a quick visit, Norm will be over later for a meeting with Woody regarding new guidelines for volunteers, etc, that have been set up by Alberta Parks and Recreation who oversee this park, the money donated by the person who donated the land for this park and also fund projects, etc. for this park (Onoway Fish and Game Association Manage the Park) meaning they do all the work as well as fund raise for this park but are bound by Alberta Parks and Recreation. Not sure I have made that clear but at any rate Onoway Fish and Game Association are our boss and Parks and Recreation are their bosses in a sense. Onoway Fish and Game have secured some funds to build a garage this season and that is exciting news, we will be able to store the tractors and other items here at the park which will be so much easier than always having to drive them down to the Gun Range, thank you Onoway Fish and Game. The trees that will be needed to take down are already marked and the contractors to get the area ready are all set to go! The garage will be completed by July 31st for sure as that is a requirement of the funding it is special chunk of money from another Alberta Government Department. AWESOME!

Sun is shinning, gotta love it!

Another nice day, sunny and 21C (70F) decided we would set up the Internet dish up first, had to request change back to our Northern satellite, informed it would take at least two days to process the change, we are not impressed but have no choice but to wait, we did manage to get our Shaw TV dish set up after calling Shaw for a refresh, nice to have TV available again. We continued getting things ready for weekend, Woody pressure washed toilets, mowed some grass, checked the trails, did some shopping and I caught up on email and other chores. The day passed very quickly and we noticed in just a day the trees are almost fully leafed, surprising how fast they leaf out in the warm weather. Oh yeah saw some dandelions popping up in the lawn as well as the farmer neighbour’s cows have been in the park over winter and left all kinds of deposits in the grassy field, NICE!

A Welcome Home!

We are feeling a little weary today after our trip, getting our heads wrapped around having some responsibility again, checking the park to see what needs to be done right away as the campground is completely booked for the weekend, some campers arriving Thursday. The Onoway Fish and Game members Ron Johnson, Norm and Josie had everything ready for us to hook up the rig, new pressure tank, water lines ready (remember it froze up last fall before we left) and of course power on, they look after us so well. We had let them know earlier that we would be arriving today and called them while on the road yesterday to advise them that we would be arriving last night so they were aware in case someone reported a camper in the park! A nice day today, sunny and around 17C (63F) with some wind, the dogs are very happy to be back, they ran and chased each other in the open grassy field until their tongues were hanging out, it was so much fun to watch them. Tired puppies are good puppies and they slept for a long time after that! Woody has to get the two tractors, they are stored at the Gun Range in a Sea Can, get the power washer going to clean up the toilets, mow grass, at least some of it needs cutting, get our Star Choice dish hooked up and our Internet Hughes dish set up and I need to clean up the Rolling Castle, travelling is a dirty business, everything is dusty and dirty, plus put out the nick knacks that we store while travelling, untie items that we keep tied down while travelling and set up my little office. I do clean up our little house along the way, but the dust gets in while on the road as well as the dogs track a lot of dirt in every day! Along about 3:30 PM or so daughter Michelle and her daughter Caitlin arrive to welcome us home, Michelle works at the school in Onoway about 5 miles from the campground, what a wonderful surprise! She had run home to pick up Oreo and told us Chris (husband) was coming later with pizza for supper if that was alright with us, we were thrilled with the plan, it was awesome to see, hug and chat with them, we could not have been more pleased! Their son Christopher arrived a little later with his new girlfriend Katie, what an awesome welcome home! What a feeling, hugging, chatting and seeing some of our kids, just cannot describe the happy warm fuzzy feelings we experienced today! Needless to say we put our work aside and enjoyed our visit. Woody had to leave a little early to attend an Onoway Fish and Game club meeting at 7:00 pm to catch up on all the news.

Daughter Michelle!

Granddaughter Caitlin

Grandson Christopher.

And last but not least his girlfriend Katie!

Good travel day!

Decided to lollygag at Milk River today, we did not want to arrive at our destination campground, Whispering Spruce, by Balzac, just north of Calgary, too early as it is not pretty, not very clean, not much gravel or grass, just not a very appealing place to be, we stop there because we can visit with our granddaughter, it is open, is on our route and have no other choice. Under Eight Flags has grass, is along side the Milk River, is clean, reasonable price and even though it is under construction (adding cable and Wi-Fi) to some sites it is much better than Whispering Spruce. I called our granddaughter and unfortunately we will not be able to meet, she will be working and cannot change her shift, but she assures us that she will visit this summer for sure! Woody heads out to fuel up the truck and pick up some bread at the bakery in Milk River, our daughter Tracy said they have yummy bread. I had everything ready to go inside when Woody returned so we grabbed a bit to eat, packed up our unit and headed out. The sun was shinning, not much wind, good travel day until we got closer to Calgary, rain showers, gusty winds and foreboding clouds hanging over Calgary. As we are driving through Calgary Woody asked if I would be okay with heading straight home instead of stopping, he did not want to stop at Whispering Spruce, it would be muddy for sure, last year we had to put the truck in 4 x4 to get our unit out of the campground (it had big soggy mud holes) I said sure, I was ready to just head home also. We stopped to fuel up the truck, walk dogs, and stretch our legs at a service station along the highway near Crossfield. The drive was good, and the best thing is we drove into sunshine, leaving the rain behind, it was cool though with a cold wind when we arrived home (Imrie Park) just after 9:00 pm. I called Michelle and Chris as we drove by the road to their acreage to let them know we were almost home. By the time we parked the rig and set up it was 10:00 pm, longest travel day we have had since 2006 but worth it, we were both happy to be home and settled! Interesting fact the trees and grass are actually further ahead in the greening process than down south, usually southern Alberta is ahead of this area, it is so nice to see! We settled down with an adult beverage, late travel sure cuts into Happy Hour! LOL. We decided that when we leave in the fall, we will drive straight through to Milk River, it is doable!

Crossed the border today!

As we were preparing to leave this morning the Manager (I can’t remember his name) dropped over and asked if Woody would like to come with him as he has many hides and he would give him one, excitedly Woody accepted his offer and off they went. A short time later he came home with beautiful fully tanned Elk and Deer hides, Deer was a gift and the Elk he purchased for a very reasonable price. We were invited to stop here again in the fall and pick up more hides; we will take him up on his offer for sure. Experiences like that are so cool and part of the fun of travelling. We left a little later than planned but knew we would still make Milk River, AB in decent time.
The drive to Great Falls via Hwy 87 is pretty, winding around hills through grassy valleys, alongside the Little Belt Mountains and Judith Mountains, there are some awesome views as we crested hills, some fairly steep climbs where the view is nothing but sky until we crest the hill (small mountain) and then drop down into a valley. There is one I really love, as we come atop the mountain we see mountains spread out before us across a long valley like a painting, the camera just cannot capture the scene the way the eye views the picture, lacks the depth and breadth. This is Ranch country; the hills and valleys are dotted with cattle, horses and antelope lazily grazing on the new green sprouts of grass we also see the odd house but mostly you just see rows of mailboxes on the roadside indicating there are more people living in this area than one expect until of course we get close to Great Falls, then we see many acreages. As we approach Great Falls the road becomes 4 lane which makes driving a bit more relaxing, even if it is busy and we connect with I 15 after driving through Great Falls, they do not have a good bypass going north, driving through the city is the easiest way to connect to I 15, we tried the so called bypass route last spring and it is terrible, through Industrial areas, along the Missouri River and actually longer, going south is not a problem but north is a little more challenging. The remainder of the trip to the border is clear sailing, the border crossing was busy but we moved along quickly, had our paper work ready and had no issues crossing back into Alberta, whew, we are always somewhat relieved once across the border. We arrived a short time later in Milk River, pulled into our favourite spot at Under Eight Flags Campground and settled down for the evening, another safe day of travel!

The campground was named Under Eight Flags and flies all eight flags beside the office as the Milk River area has been governed by different countries through history. Below is the history if you are interested.

In 1803 President Jefferson of the United States authorized the Louisiana Purchase, the land on which the town of Milk River was later to rise became American territory. But this was not the first claim to the yet unexplored region; in fact lying north of the 49th Parallel and within the area of the Mississippi-Missouri river systems, Milk River is unique in Canada. There could have flown over this land at various times no less than eight flags representing six governments and one great company.

In 1682 the French explorer La Salle claimed the whole Mississippi system and the land which it drained for King Louis XIV of France and named the area Louisiana.

In 1762 by the secret Treaty of San Ildefenso France abandoned the still largely unexplored region to the Spanish Empire.

In 1800 Spain ceded the region to Napoleon who intended to establish French rule firmly but was unable to do so.

In 1803 the territory was acquired by the United States for a payment which eventually totaled $27 million.

In 1818 a Convention signed between the United Kingdom and the United States established the boundary of British North America as far as the Rocky Mountains along the 49th Parallel, cutting of the extreme northern area of the Mississippi-Missouri system. By previously granted license the newly-acquired territory came under the administration of the Hudson's Bay Company.

In 1869, following the formation of the new Dominion of Canada in 1867, jurisdiction over the western territories previously administered by the Hudson's Bay Company was transferred to the government in Ottawa.

In 1945 by Order-in-Council the Canadian government declared the Red Ensign to be the distinctive Canadian flag.

In 1965, by Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II, the Maple Leaf flag was declared the official flag of the Dominion of Canada.

Snow, Snow go away!

Weather continued to be nasty, windy, cool and wet so we stayed put no sense taking any chances especially since we would be travelling north to Lewistown where the weather is even worse at this time. We whiled our time away, walking dogs, watching TV and working on projects. Good thing we leave lots of time to travel home although we are both getting a little antsy to be settled at home. I find it a challenge to deal with these unexpected weather stops, yet I know that one cannot predict the weather and therefore any trip planning is always just a tentative plan. Ah well I am very thankful that we are in a very nice campground, warm, dry, safe and sound, life is really good and we are blessed with good health!

Snow Day

Woke up to about 6 inches of snow on the ground, with blowing snow coming down, not that we were surprised that is what the weatherman said would happen. We just hoped the prediction would be wrong!!! The dogs love the snow, romping, jumping and eating it as we took them on their morning walk. We were not as enthusiastic as the dogs, with temps below the freezing point and a brisk wind from the west, the walk was shorter than usual. We do enjoy watching the dogs play, but we were not dressed for a dawdling, playful, investigative walk, the snow was wet and stuck to the dogs so they were covered with little snowballs when we got back inside. We towelled them off as best we could which of course they don’t appreciate and I got a Sham Wow to put on my lap, covered it with a large towel, knowing the first thing they want to do is sit on my lap and the snowballs would melt! Oh yeah, I got wet anyway, and it took about 4 hours for the dogs to totally dry off, ah just in time for another outing, you just have to love their excitement over playing in the snow! We dug out warmer jackets and gloves for our walk this time, have not had to wear them since leaving Alberta last fall! Peter, the owner of the park came (just after lunch) to inform us that he would have to turn the water off for a couple of days as the predicted lows were to be in the 20’s F (-7c) and the water pipes in the park would freeze, so Woody had the pleasant job of filling our water tank, we always carry some water but not enough for 2 or more days, at least the fill valve is on the lee side of the fifth, but he came in looking like a snowman, the wet snow sticking to his clothes and beard! I am just happy he does these chores without grumbling, to him it just one of the things that goes along with the RV lifestyle. We spent time working on our projects, Woody working with leather, me working on the computer trying to figure out why it refuses to perform back ups and has lost all the restore points, I ended up after doing all the checks and running all the clean up tools getting out the recovery discs, finally got the back ups working again. In the meantime, Woody needed more leather so I checked the Yellow Pages online and found a leather shop, such luck; Sheridan has a leather shop that sells leather supplies. After cleaning the snow off the truck with a broom, we don’t carry a snow brush anymore, off he went, returning a while later with a nice chunk of leather and another pattern to practice, that will keep busy for awhile. He also picked up some groceries and a black tank valve; he is going to install a second valve as every time he connects or disconnects the sewer hose it runs a little sewer onto the ground that is nasty! Hopeful the weather is a little better tomorrow!

Wow finally a travel day

May 4th-Did not sleep too well last night, the wind was really blowing, the Rolling Castle was creaking and rocking, the dogs would even bark at the noise the wind created whistling around the bedroom slide, we have never experienced such wild winds, the winds died down early morning then started again late morning and blew hard until around 8:00 pm. The day was not cold but sure started to cool off during the evening as was predicted. We are so happy that we did not choose to travel today, the winds blew harder than first predicted, we would have to get off the road, cannot pull the Rolling Castle safely in high wind.

May 5th- Well finally we can travel safely today, a beautiful sunny day with little wind, rain showers predicted toward Sheridan but we can deal with that. Woody talked to a person while filling up the truck this morning, he had driven up from the south yesterday via car and saw five vehicles in the ditch, 1 Motorhome on it’s roof, 4 fifth wheels smashed to smithereens and a semi trailer truck, we cannot believe people choose to travel in wild gusty winds, life is too precious to take chances, better be late than take a chance ending up in a accident. I am sure the trucker thought he was okay; they are so heavy, and more stable in the wind than RV’s. Praying no one was killed.Travelling from Wheatland to Sheridan was a beautiful drive through hills along side the Big Horn Mountains with landscape changes along the way, crossing the Powder River and Crazy Women rivers several times, dropping into valleys and viewing valleys from atop the hills. We saw many Antelope along with horses and cattle grazing the green hills and valleys. There is water in most creeks and the rivers are running full, this is the greenest we have seen this area, usually it is just brown but then they have had more snow and rain than usual, in fact there is snow still hanging around on some of the hills, and lots of snow left on the mountain tops. Once we travel past Casper, WY there is little traffic, just wide open space, dotted with ranch homes and some small communities but then Wyoming is the least populated State at around 522,000 people and the two largest cities Cheyenne and Casper have a population of approximately 55,000 and 53,000; ranks 9th in land area, 97,100 square miles equalling 5.3 persons per square mile. In comparison to Alberta, population 3,290,350 land area 248,000 square miles which equals 13.2 persons per square mile. The two largest cities, Calgary and Edmonton, population just around the 1 million mark each comprise almost one third of the entire population. Alberta ranks 6th in land area of the 10 provinces, 4th in population. Okay enough statistics, we enjoyed our drive today and happy to arrive in Sheridan, settle at Peter D’s RV Park and relax for the evening, the park is a nice clean, easy off/easy on of I25, we stayed here previously in 2006 and the owner remembered us, he loves dogs so had treats for the dogs in his pockets and gave them more treats when I was walking the dogs while Woody was getting the 5th wheel set up, this park has everything one needs while travelling, full hook-ups, excellent Wi-Fi, clean laundry, showers (not that we use them), cable TV, all pull thru sites, reasonable cost and just on the edge of town, PERFECT! We checked in for 3 nights, knowing we could not leave until at least Saturday due to weather and will see what the weather has is store for us over the next few days.

Wind, Wind, go away

The wind is howling, sustained winds in the 30’s mph (50's kph) with gusts to 44 mph (72 kph), and predicted to blow until tomorrow night with gusts to 64 mph (104 kph) overnight. We are rocking for sure, the winds are from the west which hits the full living room side of the fifth, and saving grace is we have a camper on truck and a trailer beside us which breaks the wind for us a bit. It is not cold but supposes to cool off big time on Wednesday, like down to 46F (8c0 as a high but that we can deal with that as long as the wind slows down so we can get on the road. There is nothing much of interest to see around Wheatland, checked the tourism site, museum not open until mid May and the only other thing that was listed was a reservoir so we drove around town, some nice old buildings, stopped at a "Antique/Used/Consignment store" lots of stuff, some nice stuff, but nothing that we wanted, have no room anyway, only bought a couple of Louis L'Amour books to add the collection. Well that is about all, Woody is watching hunting on the Outdoor Channel and I knit while half watching, take care all and hope you had a great day!

No Travelling today

Well still in Wheatland, weather going north is bad, problem with NW winds, brings everything towards us, so bad up north then bad down here, BAH!!!! I really have to remind myself that bad weather is not a huge thing in the big picture of life, especially when one can be safe in a decent campground with the ability to keep a look out ahead, and we do not have to go out when we don't want to, well except to walk the dogs, eh! Sure would be worse to be driving in snow and wind, etc. Watched a TV show today about a young adult who was born blind, no legs and has done marvellous things with his life, makes me feel ashamed that I am depressed, frustrated and feeling put upon because the weather is not working in our favour, Woody and I looked at each other and said, "so what are we complaining about"!!!!! We will get home at some point, just have to be patient and enjoy each day. We drove around Wheatland today, nice little town, well kept homes, some neat old buildings and a city park, population 3500, did some shopping, staff in stores very helpful and friendly, not much open being Sunday except Safeway, the hardware store, dollar store, etc. Woody is busy creating his new cell phone case, I did some knitting and tried to figure out why my computer takes 5 minutes to completely start up, cannot figure it out, oh well maybe someone that knows more than I do can figure it out. I shut down everything I could without messing up the computer totally.

Travel Day

We made it to Wheatland, WY today, trip was good until northern Colorado, then NW gusty winds to Wheatland, wide open hilly land, looks pretty similar to southern Alberta. Sure sucked up the fuel once we were pushing wind! Not sure if we are leaving tomorrow or not, weather ahead not looking good, snow showers and wind, but will check in the morning. At least we have cable TV and Wi-Fi here. The campground is full, we got the last spot, good thing I always call ahead. This campground is more than full, workers here doing maintenance on the power plant, there are many sites with 2 campers crammed in but a decent campground, we have stayed here previously so knew it was okay, right on the edge of Wheatland. Sure am glad we don't have to deal with all the tornados further east in the States, wind, rain and snow is not as bad. Anyway we are hopeful the weather will change for the better! We are good as are the puppies.

And they say Chicago is the Windy City!

Well we are still sitting in Pueblo West, CO, wind is howling, not gusting to (75 mph) 120 kph like it was on Wednesday (the fifth wheel was rocking) but still gusting to (35 mph) 56 kph with some gusts reaching (62 mph) 100 kph. Got up this morning and the wind was still blowing! We were a little depressed after checking the weather, anxious to get going again but even if we could have left here today weather up the road was even worse, snow showers and wind in Wheatland, WY area. Suppose to be better tomorrow and we are praying that this time the forecast is correct, still cold and rainy up ahead but the wind is suppose to settle down. With no TV and cannot go shooting with Charlie, Woody was getting antsy, he was out of leather, so couldn't do any projects, luckily we found a leather shop here (checked online yellow pages) and off we went, a good leather shop that sold pieces of leather and had lots of tools, books, etc. to look at, so now he is happily constructing a new cell case for himself. I am very impressed with his work, soon he will be able to make me a real nice purse!

The dogs do not like the wind either, they will sit down with their backs to it when we are out for a walk! They are both going to need a good trimming at the groomers by the time we arrive home.

Gotta Love the horses!

There are many horses boarded here, some real pretty ones and some are so friendly. One Palomino coloured one always comes to the fence looking for some petting, which of course we have been doing each time we walk the dogs. Today we decided we should take him a carrot, well did he love that, Woody fed him large pieces which he munched up quickly, he is a nice well behaved horse and of course wanted more. On our way back he followed us along his fence and kept looking at us, we knew what he was asking but he will have to wait until our next walk this evening. Horses are such beautiful animals and if treated well are great companions as well as gentle, one of God’s marvellous creations in our mind. Muffin is still a little afraid of these strange large creatures, she stands back at the end of her leash but does not bark at them anymore, Cookie can take them or leave them, just another animal to her.

Woody went back out to take some pictures of the horse and he came running!

Okay here I am, where is my carrot!!

I will smile for ya!

Isn't he pretty with his mane blowing.

A couple of other horses enjoying the feed trough.

Lady who owns these horses told Woody that her 3 year old grandson can ride this horse no problem.

Every day here we see people out looking after their horses, some actually live here at the park. Sadly some horses are not well attended and were reported. This lady said that there is 0 tolerance for not looking after animals in this area, that is good news! Pueblo area was at one time known as the 'Saddle-Making capital of the World' as well as the steel capital of the USA until the bottom fell out of the steel industry in the 1980's.

Pueblo's newest event is the Wild West Fest sponsored by the Professional Bull Riders. It will be held in Pueblo during the spring and the main event will be a PBR rodeo held at the state fair events center and shown all over the world. Also, Pueblo is home to the PBR team finals held at the state fair events center during the Colorado state fair and shown all over the world. In 2008 the PBR moved their corporate headquarters to Pueblo. Just some information regarding Pueblo, it has an interesting history as most places in North America do!

For more information click the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pueblo,_Colorado

Well hopeful we can leave tomorrow, we need to heading north!

Elephant Butte, NM

Arrived in Elephant Butte, NM April 21st, good drive, it is an interesting drive from Deming over Highway 26 (Hatch Hwy as it is known, all newly paved), shorter than driving to Las Cruces then North to Elephant Butte, also more interesting scenery. Lots of irrigated (from the Rio Grande River) crops, walnuts, pecans, and of course chilies, Hatch is known as the “Chile Capitol of the World”.
Post pic of hatch
We planned on spending 3 nights in Elephant Butte, wanted to check out the area, especially the reservoir as well as what is interesting in the area, thought we might stay here next winter. Checked into Lakeside RV Park, a Passport America campground, it is meticulously kept with many winter residents, situated on 2 levels, very friendly helpful staff but the park is surrounded by an industrial park with no views of the beautiful mountains. We attended the “Happy Hour” a couple in evenings to meet some of the residents, good group and always interesting to meet other Snowbirds and/or fulltime RVer’s and hear their stories of travel, etc.



Our site was curb side site, you can see we do not have any area for sitting outside, right on the road and behind us a rock wall, no view at all. Notice the rocks along side of the RV that is the front edge of our site.




Looking another direction, not from the RV, you can see industrial area. Think that was south, and north there was a boat storage area, in fact most of Elephant Butte town is storage facilities, gas stations and restaurants. Truth or Consequences is the town south for any actual shopping, groceries included.



The park was here before the Industrial Area was developed and it is a very nice park, just the sites are too small and none have any privacy at all.




The office and club house area, very nicely done and super clean.

This the pathway up to the second level, wonderful garden area on the hill.

We checked out other RV parks in the area as possible winter home next year and there are a couple of nice ones, but decided we would keep our reservation at TTRV. We drove 20 miles (32 km) back down the highway to check out Caballo Lake, nice small RV Park there but nothing much around except the reservoir which is only accessible via a walking path (nice) from the park but to get the boat in the lake one has to go through the State Park. The Elephant Butte reservoir is only accessible via the State Park also, which means paying an entrance fee each time we would want to fish or just paddle around the huge lake, not much else to see or do in the area, just not for us.
Elephant Butte Lake is 40 miles long and has about 200 miles of beautiful sand beach, average depth is 660 ft., was built between 1911 and 1916, and they actually started filling the reservoir in 1915. There is concrete boat ramp to the lake 10 lanes wide and 1000` down to the lake. There are approximately 100,000 people at the park on weekends throughout the summer. The water is used to irrigate and generate power. For more information on the dam and the State Park click the links below.
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Elephant_Butte_Dike
http://www.truthorconsequenceschamberofcommerce.com/area_eb_lake.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_Butte_Reservoir

The attendant at the park gave us a 15 minute free pass so we could drive around and take a look, it is a huge park, and we stopped to take some pictures of the lake.



Think the item you see in the picture is meant to be protections for the marina.

WE were very surprised to see campers right on one of the beach areas, and we found out they are allowed.

The marina, there are huge boats here, many house boats and large boats with cabins.

We did enjoy our stay here and happy we took time to look around, but the day we planned to leave we had to wait due to high wind! OH well such is life when one travels through these windy areas in April, we are told April is the windiest month of the year here!

Leaving our Winter Home

Began our trek north, weather was beautiful, have mixed feelings, hard to leave but looking forward to seeing family and friends at home and praying the weather will be kind to us, so many storms floating around all over world the weather has been unpredictable to say the least. No wind to speak of which is good as parts of I10 in AZ and New Mexico can be real ugly if windy. We were planning to stop in Elephant Butte, NM tonight but Woody wanted to stop in Deming, NM instead, good idea I thought, keep the first day short and we have never stopped in Deming. We booked a night at Deming Road Runner Park, reviews were good, clean and the staff was friendly, they had a covered pool, hot tub, etc. It was nice to arrive early and have a nice relaxing evening. The pool didn’t have any water in it, did not ask why, but probably would not have used it anyway. A good day!